The meeting with the congressional leaders was classified, but Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the ranking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said they would act on the proposal very quickly.

"In a digital age, we are using analog technology from a legal standpoint," Hatch said. "We have to figure out how best to do this within the confines of the Constitution, and I think we can get that done.

Some privacy groups have quietly been raising concerns that the U.S. reaction to the terrorist assaults may lead to an erosion of civil liberties. They fear the Bush administration may seek broad new law enforcement powers that go beyond terrorism.

Hatch and Leahy said no one wants to trample on the Constitution.

"It doesn't do you any good to get convictions by violating the Constitution, because it's going to be overturned. You're going to lose all of you evidence and the person might get away. You do it right and you do it right the first time," Leahy said.

"I don't want a terrorist act to take away the Constitution for 260 million Americans."